Page 68 - SCAT Rural Voice II - 35 Stories for 35 Years

FOOD seCUrity
HOW WE TUrnED OUr FArMInG
FaIluReS Into FIelDS oF SucceSS
Mmabatho Phandilwe checking the vegetable garden. Bookie Choane, Sarah Choane and Kgoanyape Choane.
MMABATHO PHANDILWE IS A VEGETABLE FARMER AT ATAMELANG COOPERATIVE. SHE RELATES HOW SHE AND A GROUP OF DETERMINED TWEEFONTEIN WOMEN OVERCAME DROUGHT, ANIMALS EATING CROPS AND STOCK THEFT TO BECOME AN AWARD WINNING AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVE.
I live in a small village called Tweefontein Trust. As you enter our village you come across a river, with blue gum trees growing on its embankments. Above that is an old dilapidated roman Catholic church. Alongside the church is a school and 138 houses. I am a person who loves church because I love God. I do not talk too much but I like listening to people who talk of things that grow and build you.
My first job was at Vista University as a cleaner but when the contract finished I returned home. That is when I started seeing troubles of poverty because of a lack of employment, with children having nothing at home. A group of women and I decided to do something to feed ourselves, so we started farming in 2007. I knew nothing about farming but I sought and found help from different sectors: the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Social Development, SCAT and World Vision. I attended workshops and learnt about farming so that I could get help and support in different ways.
The first person I met at SCAT was Pixie Keteyi in 2012. She came and helped us learn how to work with our community. After that we met SCAT’s Programme Director Seth Tladi. He gave us information about different platforms, one of them was about how to work around finances. Our group of women then combined two separate projects to form one project called Atamelang. We help the community with the vegetables we farm. Most importantly we have a soup kitchen once a month for the children that do not have anything at home.
One of the biggest troubles we have encountered is drought when there was no rain for a long period and we were unable to get fresh vegetables. After we met our colleagues from SCAT, we were able to solve this problem. We used to farm using our feet, but now we use a tractor to plough. Water is also no longer a problem as we now have JoJo tanks to store water. Animals used to eat our plants but now we have fences and locked gates to protect our produce.
Mmabatho Phandilwe – Project leader and founder.
MMAbAtho phAndilwe
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RuRal Voice ii: 35 stories for 35 years